1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to cooling systems for milling tools. More particularly, the present invention concerns a coolant flow control system that may be readily used with, or to modify, a variety of milling tools for the purpose of efficiently and accurately directing coolant towards the cutting inserts of a milling tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Standard cooling systems for milling machines simply involve coolant being directed out of a nozzle towards a milling tool and the area of a workpiece being milled. The coolant is usually pumped from a reservoir or other catchment via a valve control system and connecting hoses.
Where a milling machine is equipped with a center-feed cooling system, the drawbar and rotating union used on the machine are provided with a central duct through which coolant can be fed to a milling tool adapted to be used with such a system. Otherwise, the coolant is normally fed out of a single nozzle that is used to flood the area of the milling tool.
Whenever a single nozzle is used the nozzle is usually clamped in a stationary position and pointed in the direction of the milling tool. When so positioned, the coolant is continually washed over the machine tool from a single direction. Such a mode of operation has the obvious drawback of having metallic chips and particles resulting from the metal working or milling operation washed into the work area and toward the machine tool rather than away from the work area.
Further, the use of a single nozzle to apply coolant to a work area has the disadvantage that the resulting cooling is inefficient in that coolant is not continually applied to a cutting insert, but rather, only cyclically as the insert passes the nozzle from which coolant is sprayed.